A common saying holds that the North is as large
as the rest of the Seven Kingdoms of Westeros combined.
Like many other Southern perceptions of the North however, this is an exaggeration.
Even so, it is a vast, untamed country of wild forests, windswept plains and snow-capped
mountains, home to a people as cold and unforgiving as the land itself.
Life here is hard and its people are hardened by it.
To rule here requires a stern but even-tempered hand, for even in the summer, while the rest
of the Seven Kingdoms amuse themselves with elaborate tourneys and frivolous displays
of wealth and entertainment, snow can still fall in the North, a reminder to prepare for
the challenges that lay ahead.
It is fitting then that of all the House Words of Westeros, amidst boasts of courage, strength,
wisdom and pride, the motto of the rulers of the North was a simple ancient warning;
that Winter is Coming.
These were the words of House Stark.
The Starks were said to have ruled the North for over 8000 years and while the Maesters
of the Citadel might consign this to the fog of legend rather than the clarity of history,
there is no doubt that the Starks were a truly ancient house.
Descended from the First Men who migrated to Westeros during the Dawn Age, the Starks
kept many of their traditions, favoring the Old Gods above the New, tending to Weirwoods,
and in darker times, practicing ritual sacrifice.
Starks were among the legendary figures of the Age of Heroes, with Brandon Stark the
Builder said to have constructed all the greatest works of all the Seven Kingdoms, including
the Wall, Storm’s End, Hightower, and Winterfell, which would become the ancestral seat of his house.
The ancient Starks warred against the rival kingdoms of the North, defeating the Barrow
Kings, the Marsh Kings, and their greatest adversaries, the Red Kings of the Dreadfort.
In time, the Starks achieved near complete dominion over the North and their vassals
included both noble houses and remote mountain clans, crannogmen and Skagosi.
Each was allowed to retain their own ways and traditions so long as they remained loyal
to Winterfell.
Across the ages the Starks endured, resisting the conquests of the Ironborn, the rebellions
of House Bolton, and even the invasion of the Andals.
But when Aegon the Conqueror arrived on the shores of Westeros, the reign of the Kings
of Winter had reached its end.
On the banks of the Trident, Torrhen Stark, rather than repeat the horrors of the Field
of Fire, knelt before Aegon Targaryen a King and rose as Lord of Winterfell and Warden
of the North.
Torrhen would be remembered somewhat bitterly as the “King who Knelt”, but none of his
men that day were consumed by dragonfire, and their swords were never added to the Iron Throne.
While united under Targaryen rule with the rest of the Seven Kingdoms, the North remained
a land apart.
The intricacies of courtly ritual and culture never took hold there and the Starks, like
their countrymen, preferred instead the simplicities of hunting and brawling.
No Stark ever joined the Knightly Orders, preferring instead to live by their own codes
of honor or to swear their sword to the Brotherhood of the Night’s Watch.
The Night’s Watch was always held in high esteem by the Starks and even as the rest
of the Seven Kingdoms began to ridicule its purpose, the Starks continued to take the
black and served proudly alongside their new brothers.
The just wardenship of the Starks over the North earned them a tremendous amount of respect
from both their sworn houses and the common folk alike.
All across Westeros, Winterfell had many friends and allies, none more so than the Baratheons
and Tullys who fought and died alongside the Starks during the War of the Ninepenny Kings.
When Lyanna Stark was abducted by Prince Rhaegar Targaryen and Brandon and Rickard were executed
by the mad King Aerys under the cruelest of circumstances, Eddard Stark, Robert Baratheon
and Jon Arryn raised their banners in revolt.
During Robert’s Rebellion, Stark armies, alongside their allies, won great victories
in the Battle of the Bells and the Battle of the Trident.
When the rebel army pursued the retreating royalists to the capital of King’s Landing,
it was Eddard Stark who commanded the host.
Seven years later, Robert Baratheon, now ruler of the Seven Kingdoms, fought once again alongside
his old friend Eddard, suppressing the Greyjoy Rebellion after a brutal siege of Pyke.
Always mindful to remain distant from the intrigue-ridden politics of King’s Landing,
the Starks and their armies returned to the North, content to rule the land in Robert’s name.
And yet, following the death of their mutual mentor Jon Arryn, Eddard Stark rode once more
to King’s Landing at Robert’s request where, to the astonishment of the realm, he
conspired with traitors to murder his old friend and assume control of the Seven Kingdoms.
While too late to save the rightful king, the swift action of Petyr Balish and others
assured Eddard was brought to justice and he was executed at the Great Sept of Baelor
to the delight of the crowd.
This act outraged the North, who rallied behind Eddard’s oldest trueborn son, Robb Stark.
Declaring themselves a free and independent kingdom, the first King of the North in nearly
300 years called forth his banners and invaded the westerlands winning a string of great
victories against the Lannisters and their bannermen.
While Robb would never lose a battle in the field, the War of the Five Kings would decimate
the Starks and the North.
Winterfell itself was sacked by Ironborn raiders and young Brandon and Rickon Stark murdered
by their father’s former ward.
At the Twins, Robb and his closest bannermen were betrayed, their Frey hosts breaking the
sacred Guest Right to murder their liege lord in what would become known as the Red Wedding.
With the fall of House Stark, rule of the North was turned over to their ancient rivals,
the Flayed Men of House Bolton.
Of the two remaining Stark girls, Sansa and Arya, rumors abound and no two tales are quite
the same.
Most agree that Sansa was involved in the death of King Joffrey while Arya was wed to
the new Lord of Winterfell, Ramsay Bolton.
But in taverns and inns across the North, as the fires grow dim and the hearths become
cold, other, stranger tales are told.
Some say that perhaps the murder of Rickon and Brandon was a lie and that the girl known
as Arya Stark is not who she claims.
In White Harbor, Lord Manderly is said to be building ships, while at the Wall, Stannis
Baratheon has somehow gained the allegiance of the northern clans and now marches on Winterfell.
In the Riverlands, a cloaked woman has been sighted leading a band of outlaws who hangs
every Frey and Lannister she finds, all while clutching a bronze crown incised with runes
of the first men and nine black iron spikes in the shape of swords.
Whatever truth exists behind these tales, few can say with certainty, but the story
told above all needs no embellishment.
From the swamps of the Neck to the top of the Wall, men speak in hushed tones of their
murdered King and the oaths they all swore to the Starks.
For the North Remembers, and the mummer’s farce is almost done.
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